Why do you have the Droid 2 rather than a plain-Jane cellphone? If you’re like most people, it’s for the apps, which let you handle email, Google Maps, Contacts, and your calendar, as well as countless unexpected and remarkable things like using your phone as a bar code reader or a guitar tuner.
The Droid 2 features plenty of useful built-in apps, which are covered throughout this book. One of its great features, though, is its ability is to let you download and use new apps as well—apps that do just about everything under the sun (and sometimes a few things that seem beyond the range of the solar system).
In this chapter, you’ll find out how to get and use those apps, as well as how to uninstall and troubleshoot them. It’ll also show you how to use a few of the more amazing Android apps available online.
The Droid 2, like all Android phones, takes a different approach to the use of apps than some other phones: There’s absolutely no limitation on what you can download. Android’s developer, Google, doesn’t step in to say what you can and can’t download, and neither does the Droid 2’s manufacturer, Motorola, or its carrier, Verizon.
That means you’re free to choose from tens of thousands of apps, with thousands more being written every month. There are apps for tracking expenses, chatting with people, playing games, using social networks like Twitter, finding new friends, making your Droid 2 work better, tuning your guitar, viewing maps of the night sky, and much more.
Some Android apps cost money, but many more are free. So whenever you find a for-pay app, do a bit of searching to see if you can find a free one that does the same thing.
These apps tie into the Droid 2’s unique hardware and software. One even automatically detects potholes as you drive, using the Droid 2’s various sensors to measure sudden movements. The app then uses the Droid 2’s positioning software to locate exactly where the pothole is, and creates a text file with all the relevant information so you can send it to your local Department of Public Works. (Unfortunately, no app has yet been developed that will get your local Department of Public Works to actually fix the pothole.)